I have read a number of the books in the ongoing series of interviews with Noam Chomsky by David Barsamian. This one, like the others, is an excellent way to get a perspective on current events that is decidedly not the perspective of dominant media. I highly suggest these interview books as a way to introduce people to Chomsky's work. They are conversational in tone, and less dense than some of his more formal writing. The film "Manufacturing Consent" is probably one of the best introductions, but these are great too. ( )

This is a remarkably concise and accessible introduction to Chomsky's life and work. Although this volume, like much of his output over the past decade, has come under fire for serving as an easy out far from the scholarship of his more rigorous early publication period, I think it's actually precisely this kind of work that helps distribute his thinking and, in some way, allow new connections between different bodies of work. This is one of the few places, for instance, where Chomsky ventures in plain language to build a relationship between his political and linguistic research.

Most importantly, these interviews help build an extremely timely case for understanding the Arab spring, Occupy Wall Street, and other democratic movements of the past several years against the broader background of the recession and other accrued contradictions in global imperialist capitalism. Chomsky is not the most tolerant when it comes to dissenting views, even from similarly minded scholars like Wallerstein, but as a position paper this book does lay it all out quite neatly. ( )

Wikipedia in English

A compelling new set of interviews on our changing and turbulent times with Noam Chomsky, one of the world's foremost thinkers

In this new collection of conversations, conducted from 2010 to 2012, Noam Chomsky explores the most immediate and urgent concerns: the future of democracy in the Arab world, the implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the European financial crisis, the breakdown of American mainstream political institutions, and the rise of the Occupy movement. As always, Chomsky presents his ideas vividly and accessibly, with uncompromising principle and clarifying insight.

The latest volume from a long-established, trusted partnership, this collection shows once again that no interlocutor engages with Chomsky more effectively than David Barsamian. These interviews will inspire a new generation of readers, as well as longtime Chomsky fans eager for his latest thinking on the many crises we now confront, both at home and abroad. They confirm that Chomsky is an unparalleled resource for anyone seeking to understand our world today.

(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:44:49 -0400)

▾Library descriptions

"In this new collection of conversations, conducted from 2010 to 2012, Noam Chomsky explores the most immediate and urgent concerns: the future of democracy in the Arab world, the implications of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the European financial crisis, the breakdown of American mainstream political institutions, and the rise of the Occupy movement. As always, Chomsky presents his ideas vividly and accessibly, with uncompromising principle and clarifying insight. The latest volume from a long-established, trusted partnership, this collection shows once again that no interlocutor engages with Chomsky more effectively than David Barsamian. These interviews will inspire a new generation of readers, as well as longtime Chomsky fans eager for his latest thinking on the many crises we now confront, both at home and abroad. They confirm that Chomsky is an unparalleled resource for anyone seeking to understand our world today"--… (more)